Search canberratimes:

Search in:

Smart herbs

Could an Indian herb or an extract from the bark of a French pine tree help keep our brains in good nick as we age? Melbourne researcher Professor Con Stough of Swinburne University’s Centre for Human Psychopharmacology has his fingers crossed. He’s leading a government funded study to see if these supplements improve cognition in 500 healthy over 65s.

One group will take Bacopa monniera (also called brahmi), a herb used in traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine for improving memory. Although this study is focussed on older brains, earlier research has shown improvement in cognition in younger people, Stough says, and the Centre will soon begin a trial of Bacopa with children with ADHD in Australia and India.

Whatever turns out to prevent dementia, it’s likely to be something that’s needed earlier rather than later

“We’re starting to get good evidence that Bacopa is helpful for the brain. Unlike drugs which tend to have a potent but single action, herbs often have multiple actions and we think Bacopa does a few different things. It has a strong antioxidant effect which may help remove the beta-amyloid plaques thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. It also has a strong anti-inflammatory effect and appears to improve blood flow to the brain.”

A second group in the Swinburne study will be taking Pycnogenol, a patented extract from the bark of French maritime pine found to improve working memory in a pilotstudy of 100 healthy 60 to 85-year-olds.

Advertisement

“It’s not clear how Pycnogenol works, but one theory is that it’s by improving blood flow to the brain,” Stough says.

The ability to boost the brain’s blood supply also made another herb, Gingko biloba, look promising for heading off memory loss, but research results with gingko for preventing Alzheimer’s have been disappointing, although there’s some evidence that it’s helpful for treating dementia and improving cognition in younger people, he adds.

The Swinburne study will also try to find out if extra B vitamins can help older brains - a third group in the study is taking a supplement that combines B vitamins with other nutrients.

“As we get older our levels of B vitamins diminish, although it’s not clear whether this is an effect of ageing, diet or both, but a British study from Cambridge University showed that vitamin B12 improved brain shrinkage,” he explains. “There’s also emerging evidence that vitamins B6 and B12 may help reduce blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s.”

But before we dash to the health food store to load up on brain pills, there are things to consider. For one, more research needs doing to confirm if these supplements work. It’s also hard for consumers to know which products might be effective because the quality of herbal medicines in Australia is so variable, Stough points out - while there are many products containing Bacopa, for instance, only a few have been studied. These include a Bacopa extract manufactured by Flordis, the subject of the Swinburne research, and another Bacopa product made by Natural Remedies found to improve memory in older people in a study at Southern Cross University.

Just because complementary medicines are registered with the Australian Government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration is no guarantee that a product works either. Although manufacturers must prove to the TGA that their products are safe they don’t have to prove that they actually work.

But whatever turns out to prevent dementia, it’s likely to be something that’s needed earlier rather than later.

“The brain changes that lead to dementia can start decades before there are signs of memory loss which means much of the damage has already been done,” says Stough.

This sounds like a reason for taking the advice of Brain Matters, Alzheimer’s Australia’s brain health program that stresses the need to take steps to fight dementia as early as middle age - measures like being physically active and keeping blood pressure healthy are a good start.

What are you doing to keep your brain in good shape?

13 comments so far

as a vego for the last 20 years, my B12 levels were down so my doc suggested injections - the immediate effect for me was amazing; cognitive function and my memory improved along with brain 'alertness' i.e. no woozy feelings.Several others - meat eaters I'll add - to whom I have suggested getting their B12 levels checked have been shocked as well to discover that they too are lacking - despite the adage of only vegetarians need to monitor their levels as meat eaters shouldn't worry.

Commenter

Fitzy

Location

Melb

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 12:30PM

Common misconception that Vitamin B12 comes from animals. Essentially B12 is formed and produced in Bacteria which is common in soils and water. Thus unless you can grow crops or grains like rice dead on in the right environment and eat it straight away before the bacteria carrying the vitamin is diluted you are out of luck.

Animals on the other hand do eat grass and plants directly from the soil and as B12 is metabolised in every cell in the body it is thus present in the meat of the now dead animal and can than be absorbed in the human that eats the animal.

I'd hazard a guess that B12 deficiency is predominately caused by more commercial farming, animals been farmed away from the natural environment and a reduction in soil quality or lack of available soil.

Vegans are very susceptible as they would struggle to find a good source. As more meat is produced world wide in battery farms and animals move away from their environment these animals will lack B12 also.

Commenter

Dale

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 1:00PM

@ Dale: "Common misconception that Vitamin B12 comes from animals. [...] Animals on the other hand do eat grass and plants directly from the soil and as B12 is metabolised in every cell in the body it is thus present in the meat of the now dead animal and can than be absorbed in the human that eats the animal."

So B12 does comes from animals, at least for human dietary purposes, since it is bio-available only from animal sources (non-animal sources being currently scientifically unproven, and also ignoring supplementation).

Commenter

White rabbit

Date and time

February 14, 2013, 8:32AM

@White Rabbit Agreed to a point. Meat is the most reliable source. Yet this board has seen people push no carb diets, paleo, no sugar diets or some other thing as the panacea of good health. Yet someone tries no meat and they are crazy?

What do you mean non-animal sources are unproven? B12 is in bacteria. You grow carots or potatoes in original nutrient rich soil or go into the wilderness where water hasn't been polluted or containing other chemicals and you will have plenty of B12.

PS Am not a vegan/vegetarian merely stating the other side of the coin.

Commenter

Dale

Date and time

February 14, 2013, 11:19AM

The advice from dietitians is that plant foods aren't reliable sources of B12. There is good information on this in a paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia last year https://www.mja.com.au/open/2012/1/2/vitamin-b12-and-vegetarian-diets - it says that 'Vegans, and anyone who significantly limits intake of animal-based foods, require vitamin B12-fortified foods or supplements."

Commenter

Paula

Date and time

February 14, 2013, 12:57PM

@ Dale: Non-animal sources of B12 are unproven because there is no real comprehensive evidence of bio-available non-animal sourced B12 for human dietary purposes. Measuring B12 in plant foods only takes into account the bacterial response to existing B12 but cannot prove whether it is readily available for absorption by humans.

Your mythical carrot/potato example is disingenuous, and incorrect. You still need plant or faecal matter to be ingested by an animal in order for B12 to be made bio-available to humans.

I'm not sure what you mean by "original" soil. Original, as opposed to what, exactly?

P.S. I didn't say anything about you being crazy, or the validity of one dietary philosophy over another. And I was vegan for many years so am familiar with both sides of the coin (as you expressed it).

Commenter

White rabbit

Date and time

February 15, 2013, 4:57PM

This NIH fact sheet about Vitamin B12 might help:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-QuickFacts/

Commenter

Dr Kiwi

Date and time

February 17, 2013, 4:14PM

In my experience vegans tend to be more aware of nutritional needs and how to meet them in their diets, so in a sense they could have an advantage here.

Before I became vegan I had no idea what the benefits and sources of B vitamins were at all. Since then I have seen a world of information published by/for vegans about staying healthy and eating a balanced diet.I believe that this sort of education about how to eat to meet your bodys needs will reduce diet-related conditions, and limit reliance on knee-jerk consumption of pills and other supplements to address whatever health issue happens to be in the paper.

Commenter

CrueltyFree

Date and time

February 18, 2013, 6:03PM

Great article. The decline in B12 levels is not limited to those moving through middle to later years of life. Vitamin B12 is essential for clear cognitive functioning of the brain in addition to the protection of vital organs and maintaining a strong immune system to fight off infections and remain healthy. I was diagnosed at 35 with hereditary Pernicious Anemia, a B12 deficiency that occurs mainly in over 65's. Until the 1950's the treatment for this condition was unknown and was referred to as "grumpy old persons disease" reflecting the cognitive decline leading to irritable and grumpy outlook on life, and ultimately death through organ failure. At my age this condition is very rare, except that I had grandparents on both sides that had the condition. It was discovered after a long battle by me with recurring painful boils which began with the odd boil several years earlier and progressed to an almost continuous state for 10 months where antibiotics had no effect in treating the occurrence, numbers or severity. Finally with the assistance of a great doctor who undertook a variety of blood tests, and finally what is known as a Shillings Test, usually reserved for those over 65, revealed my stomachs juices inability to convert my intake of B12 into my blood stream. The treatment for this condition is inexpensive B12 injections every month or 2. The cognitive boost from this injection when first given as treatment was indescribable, but it was like a darkness and hurdle in my thinking was removed. To this day, I am now 46, a cognitive burst is still felt each month, and I no longer suffer the boils, and the other hidden effects on my immune system and organs pernicious anemia can cause if left untreated.

Commenter

Alert and thinking

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 2:18PM

That's really interesting to hear. I too was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia and I am your age too. But I don't think my B12 levels are as low as yours - I get no cognitive boost after an injection. Although I am paranoid now every time I can't recall a word or a name!